First of all, I want to point out that this poem and all rights to it belong to SueW. It is used entirely without permission. SueW hates my guts, and won't even talk to me, but this poem is too good not to use. To the best of my knowledge, this use is technically legal under the provisions in the copyright laws for educational purposes.

This is the kind of poetry that I wish I could write. Technically it is only average, but the imagery is outstanding. Reading this poem, I can just hear the hiss of dragon scales on stone and smell cold sulfur in the air.

Pay attention to the pacing of the poem. It starts off calm enough in the first verse, quiet, stealthy, and then bam it has you. Then the last two lines are regular and even again, and the poem is at peace. That is what meter can do for you, assisted in this case by well-chosen words.

The poem gives you not just visual images, not just lighting and shadows, but feelings, movement, time, heat and cold. "Dawn is a lifetime away" encapsulates doom in five words. Interestingly enough, the verb to be is only used twice. Instead, there are lots of action verbs: prowling, burns, strikes. That is where it draws its power and life from.